1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for operating a user interface, in which a first user input is detected, and a confidence analysis is carried out, during which the user input is compared with a plurality of stored database entries and each thus compared database entry is assigned a value of a confidence measure, which assesses the correspondence between the user input and this database entry. Different kinds of system responses which differ from one another in at least one feature are generated depending on the result of the confidence analysis, whereby a first kind of system response comprises, as a distinguishing first feature, a system output which requests a second user input, and a second kind of system response comprises, as a distinguishing second feature, the automatic selection of a database entry. The invention relates further to a corresponding apparatus, especially for carrying out this method, and to a vehicle having such an apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generic user interfaces have a broad range of applications for the operation of devices, particularly electronic equipment. Particularly, the comparison of user inputs with database entries stored in a database are known from the technical field of search engines, in which a user input is compared with database entries and the relevance of each database entry is calculated by means of an algorithm and an associated confidence measure is output, which quantifies the relevance. If such a search result is unambiguous, the corresponding database entry is output or a function is carried out on its basis. If the search result is not unambiguous, in this case either typically a hit list or a system-side query is output. In this regard, the user input and system output form a dialog-like scheme, particularly when a system output responding to a user input asks for another user input.
Such user interfaces are used in particular when it is assumed that detected data are faulty either because of incomplete or ambiguous inputs on the part of the user or because of system-side imprecise detection, as is the case, for example, in speech input in a noisy environment or in manual inputs in an environment affected by vibrations. For this reason, such interactive user interfaces are used increasingly in vehicles in order to improve the operating convenience of the numerous operating devices, such as, for example, a navigation system, telecommunication devices, or infotainment systems.
Further, it must be taken into account in the case of a vehicle that the driver is not distracted from the road traffic during an operating procedure via the user interface. It was proposed for this reason to make possible a multimodal user input, whereby one can switch among the possible input modalities to the one most advantageous for the user. Common input modalities include in particular inputs via speech, keyboard, touch screen, and non-contact gestures. DE 10 2008 008 948 A1 describes, for example, such a method in which during a multi-part user input a switch can be made between two input modalities during the input as well.
DE 103 13 222 A1, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 7,809,501, discloses a method for inputting place names in which ambiguous place names are shown in a graphic, for example, in the corresponding geographic positions on a map. The user then has the opportunity to make a rapid and unerring selection of the desired place name with the aid of this information.
DE 100 60 654 C1, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 7,167,545, describes a method and a device for automatically issuing information by means of a search engine, in which the sought information, together with other associated attributes, are stored in the form of data records. A relevance check is performed with the stored database entries for a search argument input by the user for several attributes stored in a data record and via a weighting with confidence values the data record with the highest total confidence value is output. In the case of several data records with a nearly equal confidence value, the user is asked for further user input on the data record until the sought data record was clearly identified.